100 Years Ago This Week: The Wedding of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose F. Fitzgerald

By Patrick E. O’Connor
October 8, 2014
Patrick E. O’Connor

The Kennedys on their wedding day, Oct. 7, 1914The Kennedys on their wedding day, Oct. 7, 1914A century ago this week, most Boston newspapers of the day reported on page one of the wedding of Rose F. Fitzgerald, daughter of ex-Mayor John F. Fitzgerald to Joseph P. Kennedy. The ceremony took place on Wednesday morning, October 7, 1914 with Cardinal O’Connell officiating in the chapel of his residence at 25 Granby Street in the Kenmore Square section of Boston.

Both parents of the couple witnessed the ceremony. Ms. Agnes Fitzgerald served as maid of honor for the bride, 24 at the time and another sister, Eunice looked on. Serving as best man for the groom was Joseph Donovan, a close friend and Harvard classmate. Following the ceremony, the couple posed for photos for newsmen who gathered outside the Cardinal’s residence. The couple smiled heartily for the occasion and then returned to the Fitzgerald family home at Welles Avenue in Dorchester for a reception.

The story of the romance of the couple was well told in the bride’s autobiography ‘Times To Remember’, published in 1974. The two first met at Old Orchard Beach in Maine, vacationing as children. They met again as teenagers and romance quickly blossomed into dating and getting engaged a year before the wedding. Upon getting engaged, the couple prepared for their new life. The groom purchased the wood frame home at 83 Beales Street in Brookline a month before the wedding. Here they returned to from a honeymoon of two weeks at White Sulfphur Springs in Virginia.

12th BCMfest gathering impressive lineup for Jan. 9-11 production

By BIR News Room
October 3, 2014

Boasting a line-up of familiar favorites, new faces and sounds, and creative collaborations, BCMFest (Boston’s Celtic Music Fest), presented by Passim, will once again warm up the winter in celebration of the Boston area’s abundance of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, and other Celtic-related music and dance traditions.

For McCaela Donovan, life is all about theatre

By R.J. Donovan
October 3, 2014
R.J. Donovan

The actress and educator McCaela Donovan (no relation) could definitely use a few more hours in her day. For her full-time job, she’s Assistant Director of the School of Theatre at Boston University. Beyond that, she also finds time to serve as Associate Artistic Director of Bridge Repertory Theatre, currently beginning its second season. Finally, as a much in-demand talent, she’s appearing in Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award-winning “Assassins” at New Repertory Theatre in Watertown.

For the O’Briens, it’s about more than dancing

By Sean Smith
October 3, 2014
Sean Smith

The O’Brien family has plenty to show for its involvement with Irish dancing. Their Newton home’s basement, renovated some years ago to accommodate a small practice studio, is full of photos and trophies that chronicle the success of Conor, 21, Claire, 23, and Alana, 25, over nearly two decades of competitions in the US and elsewhere.

Boston Irish Reporter’s Here & There

By Bill O'Donnell
October 3, 2014
Bill O'Donnell

US Inversion Action Impacts Irish-Based Firms – President Obama had been strongly hinting that the US government would react to the growing threat of inversion by multinationals seeking to cut their US corporate tax bills, and that came true late last month. In an inversion, companies avoid or reduce US taxes by setting up a foreign company in a country, then moving its tax domicile to that country.

Walsh returns ‘home’ to Connemara

By Bill Forry
October 3, 2014

Michael Ó Cathasaigh, age 5, of Dubhithir, Carna, County Galway awaits the arrival of Mayor Walsh in Carna on Tuesday, Sept. 23.Michael Ó Cathasaigh, age 5, of Dubhithir, Carna, County Galway awaits the arrival of Mayor Walsh in Carna on Tuesday, Sept. 23.

GALWAY, Ireland – For a few hours last Saturday, Marty Walsh was just another Yank on holiday, enjoying the sights and sounds of Clifden, one of Co. Galway’s loveliest and liveliest towns.  Your mayor had just enjoyed a sailboat ride and a quiet lunch with his partner Lorrie Higgins and two other traveling companions. Now, as he strolled through the scenic village with other tourists, he was incognito in blue jeans, sneakers, and an old-school Red Sox ball cap; mercifully, he was off the grid, stopping to buy scones and desserts for his mother at a local bakery called Walsh’s.

The respite would not last long. Later that evening, he began a series of public events with a Mass celebrated in his mother’s home village of Rosmuc, followed by a reception that went late into the night.

Reflections on a failed busing plan directly from a front-row seat

By By James W. Dolan
October 3, 2014
By James W. Dolan

Forty years ago, shortly before forced busing went into effect, I was a new judge appointed to Dorchester District Court. Since much of the anger and violence associated with that ill-conceived “solution” to segregated Boston schools spilled into the courts, I had a front-row seat from which to view its effects.

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